America’s Cup eyes New York exhibition to jumpstart interest

Is that the Empire State Building I see? (photo courtesy of Oracle Racing)

San Francisco may have to wait a few months to get its first taste of America’s Cup-style competitive racing, with race organizers looking to move the August exhibition race scheduled for the bay to New York.

The switch is a long shot to happen, but organizers say it would prove invaluable in drumming up national attention – and attendance – for the America’s Cup challenger and finals matches in San Francisco in 2013.

While the big races are still more than a year away, sailing certainly hasn’t captivated the mainstream American sporting public. Turnout for exhibition races in San Diego in December was disappointing. Ahead of a June 1 entry deadline, only four teams have signed up to race for the Cup. Organizers originally hoped to have about 10. Race organizers have also voiced difficulties in landing national and international corporate sponsorships.

That’s why regatta organizers, led by billionaire Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, have their eye on New York, with its combination of media concentration, affluent residents and national appeal.

“One of the challenges we have is to engage America,” said Stephen Barclay, an executive with the America’s Cup Event Authority, Ellison’s regatta group. “Having these things racing around the Statue of Liberty would engage the East Coast.”

But Barclay put the chance of that happening at “less than 20 percent” given the time frame and logistics. Officials in New York have already shot down the idea once, he said. Whether in New York or San Francisco, the final day of racing from that match is to be broadcast live on NBC.

The exhibition races, dubbed the America’s Cup World Series, feature 45-foot catamarans and are being held around the globe. San Francisco would still have an exhibition race in October before the challenger series for the right to battle Ellison’s Oracle Racing for the Cup, featuring 72-foot boats, kicks off on July 4, 2013. The Cup finals would be held that September.

Moving the August exhibition to New York would reduce the short-term economic benefit to San Francisco with the idea of drawing a much larger national crowd here – and their spending – when the sailing counts, organizers said.

“The investment, in our view, would be more than repaid by the dividends,” Barclay said.